Keep3rV1, or the Keep3r Network, began as a decentralized finance (DeFi) job registry where developers are matched with projects within the DeFi space. The platform has since grown into a niche ecosystem.

An Ethereum-run, ERC-20 utility token, KP3R is the network’s native asset. It’s mainly used for task completion payments, and as liquidity provider incentives and also for governance. KP3R tokens are minted when liquidity is added to the platform.

You may have heard of “sister” networks and “canary” networks (sometimes likened to “wild cousin” networks) and these connote testing grounds or parallel universes. Keep3r, brainchild of DeFi engineering pioneer Andre Cronjje, is dubbed a “keeper” network. Keepers are task performers (external developers). Tasks could include, as Cointelegraph pointed out, automated yield harvesting.

“The scope of Keep3r network is not to manage these jobs themselves, but to allow contracts to register as jobs for keepers, and keepers to register themselves as available to perform jobs,” according to the network. “It is up to the individual keeper to set up their developers and infrastructure and create their own rules based on what transactions they deem profitable.”

It is important to note that, in the context of how Keep3r works, a “job” doesn’t refer to a role fulfilled by a human employee; rather, it refers to a smart contract that wishes an external party to fulfill an action. In accordance to the Keep3r whitepaper, this action is expected to be performed in good faith, ultimately unlocking the ability to execute the smart contract.

Unlocking the potential for traders to become keepers, even without tokens, the system essentially operates as a pro bono distribution of resources across a variety of projects. In doing so, Keep3r is, its team says, aspiring to reduce the extensive upkeep of vast quantities of smart contracts to power increasingly complex systems.

Cronje is known as the founder the yield-farming aggregator Yearn Finance. He has lent his expertise to myriad other projects as well. In March of 2022, Cronje revealed he was exiting the DeFi realm.

It was October of 2020 that Cronje unveiled Keep3r. Since then, a larger ecosystem has sprouted. It includes, Cointelegraph said, the following: Keep3r Eden, a system of rules that enables transparent ordering of transactions; Fixed Forex, a market aimed at providing an alternative to dollar-denominated stablecoins; and an options liquidity mining platform.

The current price of KP3R

As of early March 2022, KP3R was trading at about $365, having shed 80% since hitting its all-time high in mid-November 2021, according to CoinGecko.

The token lost 44% of its value during a seven-day period in March 2022, around the time Cronje left the DeFi space.

KP3R’s all-time low is $24 which came not long after it debuted in October 2020.

The record high for KP3R came during a volatile time for crypto, with Bitcoin pulling back after it reached its zenith, throwing cold water on altcoin momentum. Still, it was during this period, Nov.15-19, 2021, that KP3R saw a 30% increase in value.

How the price of KP3R is determined

KP3R is minted as liquidity is provided to the platform via Uniswap. The total supply is relatively minuscule, less than 380,000. There’s no pre-set cap at this time.

The token treasury is maintained by bonded keepers, whose sole responsibility is governance tasks and who earn a 0.3% fee on transactions. That fee is then redistributed to the treasury.

If DeFi and the KP3R ecosystem expand, then the token should theoretically rise in value. It began to surge to record highs in November around the time that the total value locked in Keep3r Network’s Fixed Forex exceeded $1 billion.

What the bulls are saying Keep3rV1 (KP3R)

KP3R token was one of the few altcoins that emerged unscathed from a bearish turn in the crypto market, Cointelegraph said in November 2021.

”They will be one of the most scalable crowd sourcing platforms,” said Masa Keith Nakatsu in Cyber Bump.

KP3R is an “awesome” investment looking out 12 months, WalletInvestor said in early March of 2022.

What the bears are saying about Keep3rV1 (KP3R)

According to technical indicators, the sentiment for KP3R as of early March 2020 was bearish, while the Fear & Greed Index is showing Extreme Fear, CoinCodex said.

"KP3R has been on a declining trend for the past month with no end to the bearish momentum in sight," StocksTelegraph said in March 2022.

"Keep3rV1 might have strong fundamentals but, we don’t think that it would a profitable asset in short term," according to PricePrediction.net